Delivery contrivance for paper sheets and the like



Feb. 11, 1958 N. G. A. STRUMBERG DELIVERY CONTRIVANCE FOR PAPER SHEETSAND THE LIKE I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 2'7. 1953 1 211: V AI/ Mlllllllllll @l I yvzgmom-i BY f? M4 ATTORNEY-5.

Feb. 11, 1958 N. G. A. STRCJMBERG ,8

DELIVERY CONTRIVANCE FOR PAPERSHEETS AND THE LIKE Filed July 27, 1953 2Sheets-Sheet 2 m 4% v I 2 lNVENTRE- ATTORNEYS United States Patent C)DELIVERY CONTRIVAN CE FOR PAPER SHEETS AND THE LIKE Nils Gustaf AllansonStriimberg, Stockholm, Sweden, as-

signor to Aktiebolaget Dux, Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of SwedenThe present invention relates to a contrivance for the delivery ofsheets of paper or pasteboard, particularly of forms and other sheets ofa small size intended to be used in tear-off machines, printing pressesand other refining machines. The contrivance is of the type wherein thesheets are fed along a conveying track to which they are brought by feedrollers or the like on the tear-off machine, printing press or the like.

In the delivery of sheets, particularly suchof a rather small size,difficulties of various kinds are met with. The static electricity whichthe sheets are charged with is frequently very troublesome, inasmuch asthe sheets are caused thereby to stick to each other or to theirsupport, so that their movement is disturbed. The conveyance of thesmall sheets in a manner to make them move in a uniform stream, Whilepartly covering each other like roofing-tiles on a slowly travellingconveying track also involves special problems. If the machine isrunning at a high speed, it might occur that the sheet thrown off thedischarging device of the machine will not have time to move away at asuflicient rate before the following sheet, so that the fore edge of thelatter is caused to interfere With the rear edge of the firstmentionedsheet, instead of sliding up onto the wandering support.

The present invention has for its object to obviate these diflicultiesand to provide an exactly operating delivery contrivance. To this endthe invention is primarily distinguished by the feature that theconveying track behind the feed rollers is provided with a bridgeadapted to form a downwardly extending shoulder, so that the path ofmovement of the sheets behind said shoulder will be located lower downthan before the same. The delivery contrivance may be provided withfeeding members adapted to convey the sheet at approximately the samerate at which it is delivered by the feed rollers or the like, saidsheet being at the same time pressed down the shoulder. Hereby the sheetwill be moved positively so as to be brought rapidly and safely out ofthe way of the following sheet, which may be caused, by suitablyadapting the speed of the sheet next ahead, to lay itself with its foreedge over the rear edge of the sheet next ahead.

A particularly practical embodiment of the feeding members may beprovided by making the same as driven sheet rollers and springs, whichlatter are so arranged as to press the sheet against the sheet rollers,so that the sheet will be advanced by the same.

The springs may consist of leaf springs secured to the front side of thebridge at a distance below the upper side of the bridge so as to formthe first portion of the con veying track behind the shoulder.

Further features of the invention and advantages connected therewithwill appear from the following description of a form of embodiment ofthe delivery contrivance applied to a so-called tear-01f machine, asillustrated in the accompanying drawings. Fig. l of the drawings showsthe machine with the delivery contrivance thereof in Vertical section.Fig. 2 is a corresponding horizontal e 2,823,033 Patented Feb. 11, 1958"ice projection. Fig. 3 shows an enlargement of the delivery contrivanceproper in vertical section. Fig. 4 shows a variant of the contrivance invertical section by way of diagrammatic representation.

The tear-off machine referred to in the example shown, with which adelivery contrivance according to the invention is built together withcommon lateral side plates 1, 1, broadly consists of two pairs ofrollers 2, 3 and 4, 5 arranged behind one another, of which the frontpair of rollers 4, 5, counted in the feeding direction, rotate at aspeed higher than that of the pair of rollers 2, 3 therebehind, so thata paper web 7 provided with crosswise perforations 6 and advanced by therollers between the same, will be torn apart along the crosswiseperforations, when such a perforation is located between the pairs ofrollers. The rollers may have their movement imparted to them in anarbitrary suitable manner. In the example shown, the lower rollers 3, 5of the pairs of rollers are driven from a transmission shaft 8 havingsecured onto the same a smaller gear Wheel 9, which is in engagementwith a gear wheel 10 arranged on the shaft 11 of the feed roller 3, aswell as a larger gear wheel 12 in engagement with a gear wheel 14 on theshaft 15 of the feed roller 5. The bearing boxes for the shafts of therollers 2, 3 are guided, like the bearing box 13 of the shaft 8, invertical guides 16 in the side plates 1, and in a similar manner thebearing boxes 13 for the shafts of the rollers 4, 5 are guided invertical guides 17 in the side plates. The bearing boxes for the shaftsof the upper feed rollers 2, 4 are actuated by springs 18, the tensionof which is controllable by means of screws 19, so that the bearingpressure of the rollers against the paper web 7 may be controlled.

A sheet 20, which has been torn off the paper web by means of therollers 4, 5, is discharged from the tear-off machine and fed into thedelivery contrivance, which is so constructed that the fore edge of afollowing sheet cannot interfere with the rear edge of a sheet nextahead, but is caused to lay itself on top of the latter. For thispurpose a bridge or threshold 21 is provided immediately behind thedischarge device formed by the rollers 4, 5, said bridge or thresholdforming a shoulder or a downward step, so that the sheet will be causedto fall down for a distance when fed onto the following conveying track.The threshold is provided with a number of horizontal, rearwardlydirected teeth 22 adapted to engage corresponding grooves 23 in thecircumference of the roller 5, whereby the sheet is prevented from beingentrained around by the roller 5 in a downward direction, and is insteadguided onto the upper side of the threshold 21.

The first portion of the conveying track behind the shoulder is formedby springs 25 secured onto the front side of the bridge and extendingwith a cantilever portion substantially in a horizontal direction Whileforming a support for the sheets and pressing the latter up against anumber of driven sheet rollers 24. The sheet rollers 24 are secured ontoa shaft 26, which is driven over gear wheels 27, 28, of which the latteris splined onto the shaft 15 of the feed roller 5. The gear wheels 27,28 are selected so that the sheet rollers 24 will have approximately thesame peripheral speed as that of the feed rollers 4, 5. The feed rollers24 are coated with a friction-increasing material, such as rubber, andthe springs 25 exert a slight pressure on the sheet rollers.

Provided in the same plane as that of the leaf springs 25 and in thecontinuation of the latter is a band conveyor with a band 31, the upperpart of which runs between rollers 29, 30 while forming the continuationof the conveying track for the sheets. The band 31 also extends round adriving roller 32, which is splined onto a driving shaft 33 mounted inthe side plates. The driving shaft33 is provided with a large gear wheel34 in engagement with a small gear wheel 35 on the transmission shaft 8so as to be driven from the latter at a relatively low number ofrevolutions. The speed of the conveying track 31 is substantially lowerthan the peripheral speed of the sheet rollers 24. Provided right abovethe band rollers 29 are sheet rollers 35 on a shaft 37, the bearingboxes 33 of which are displaceable in v rtical guides 39 in the sideplates 1. The sheet rollers 36 rest on the sheets conveyed by the band,and they are entrained, that is to say are driven around by the sheetsduring the movement of the latter. The direction of movement of theconveying band and the sheets is marked with arrows 40.

The mode of operation of the sheet delivery contrivance described isbroadly as follows:

When a sheet 20 is driven out from the rollers 4, 5 over the threshold21, the fore edge of the same will strike upon the rollers 24 to bepressed downwardly against the leaf springs 25. The sheet 20 next infront of the sheet 20 has already passed the threshold 21 and theshoulder formed thereby so as to rest on the springs 25. It is true thatsaid sheet is kept in engagement with the rotating sheet rollers 24, butit is braked by the sheet in front thereof so as to move more slowlythan the sheet 20 which is being discharged from the rollers 4, 5. Thesheet 20, which by reason of the threshold 21 is advanced at a levelhigher than that of the sheet 20, will thus lay itself on top of thelatter, at least with the front portion thereof. The braking of thesheet 20 depends on the fact that it is introduced, together with othersheets in I front thereof, between the sheet rollers 36 and theconveying band 31 traveling at a low rate. According as new sheets aredischarged from the rollers 4-, 5, the procedure described is repeated,the sheets then gathering'successively on the conveying band whilepartly covering each other similar to roofing-tiles while travellingslowly in a uniform stream 41, from which they may be removed in anarbitrary suitable manner.

It should be observed that the sheets from the rollers 4, 5 in thetear-off machine are caused to move positively, in a manner such as tobe guided relatively to each other inthe desired manner, interferencebetween the sheet edges and disturbances in the operation being thusavoided.

In the modification of the delivery contrivance shown in Fig. 4, theband conveyor is replaced by a delivery container 42, one side Wall 43thereof forming the threshold for the sheets 20 discharged from thetear-off machine, printing press or the like. The sheet rollers 24,which are provided with a frictional coating, here force the sheetsdownwardly into the container 42, wherein the sheets lay themselves ontop of each other in a pile, which may be conveniently removed out ofthe container by the wall 43 of the same being swinga'ble about an axis44 and adapted to be folded down into a position 43 indicated bychaindotted lines. To facilitate storing of a greater number of sheetsin the container, the bottom of the latter may be adjustable in thevertical direction.

What I claim is:

An apparatus for delivering sheets, comprising feed means for saidsheets, a bridge receiving sheets from said feed means successively onits upper surface, a sheet conveying roller. to move the sheets fromsaid bridge, the lower periphery of said sheet conveying roller beinglower than said bridge upper surface, spring means secured to saidbridge in a cantilever manner and adapted to press said sheets againstthe lower periphery of said sheet conveying. roller, and a secondconveyor receiving said sheets from said spring means, said secondconveyor having a lower feeding rate than that of said feed rollers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,545,912 Maxson July 14, 1925 1,838,510 White Dec. 29, 1931 1,942,870Matthews Ian. 9, 1934 2,133,727 Staude Oct. 18, 1938 2,177,460 Renz Oct.24, 1939 2,261,971 Matthews Nov. 11, 1941 2,391,170 Labombarde Dec. 18,1945

